Volleyball finds pot of gold at end of Rainbows

Monday, May 6, 1996

Down 9-7 in Game Four, spikers resurge just in time to take
titleBy Mark Shapiro

Daily Bruin Staff

Things looked bleak for the UCLA men’s volleyball team in the
late stages of its NCAA championship match against the University
of Hawaii. The Bruins were down two games to one and faced a 9-7
deficit after a red card and point penalty were given to middle
blocker James Turner.

Showing the fortitude that comes with having won 15
championships, the Bruins were able to rally back to claim their
16th NCAA crown in a five-game thriller, 15-13, 12-15, 9-15, 17-15,
15-12. The victory also allowed for a successful defense of last
year’s title.

It seemed the Bruins were on an inexplicable road to defeat as
opposite hitter Paul Nihipali, who had been UCLA’s hammer all
season, played himself onto the bench for the duration of the third
game, posting 11 errors and only 10 kills at the end of two
games.

"The first time I got benched I thought it couldn’t get much
worse," Nihipali said. "When I got another shot it got that much
worse. It seemed like every time I took a swing at the ball it came
back and hit me in the chest. I was in the middle of building the
biggest tank in America."

With Nihipali struggling, Hawaii’s superstar Yuval Katz putting
away everything in sight and a 9-7 lead, the Rainbows appeared
close to their first-ever NCAA championship. With a timely ace from
reserve Trong Nguyen and the consistent excellence of senior setter
Stein Metzger, the Bruins began to pull themselves together.

"I knew that we were going to win if we could take it to a fifth
game," Metzger said. "Throughout the entire fourth game, we kept
saying that this is the game that will win the match."

The end of the fourth game and the beginning of the
rally-scoring fifth game was like day and night for Nihipali, as
the sleeping giant awoke in time to put six balls down and regain
his former dominance at the net.

"Paul came back from the dead and gave us the energy we needed
in the latter part of the match," said UCLA head coach Al Scates,
who tied the NCAA record with 16 championships. "It was good to see
him come back in the clutch."

Middle blocker Tom Stillwell, who helped keep the Bruins in the
match with 22 kills and 11 blocks, was also ready for Nihipali’s
reemergence.

"We knew that Paul would come out of it sooner or later,"
Stillwell said. "He’s too good of a player not to."

After a thrilling first game that saw the Bruins come from a
13-11 hole to rip off four straight points behind the serving of
Brian Wells to win 15-13, the wheels began to come off for the
Bruins. As Nihipali’s game faded off of the scales, Katz, who
posted 47 kills on a championship record 94 attempts, started
blowing the Bruins off of the net. With no response offensively and
increasingly ineffective blocking, the ‘Bows took the next two
games by scores of 15-12 and 15-9 to put them one game away from
the title.

When the Bruins rallied to take the fourth game, the Rainbows
began to show signs of wear and tear, as Katz began to flag and
their heavy jump serves began to lose some of their heat.

"The points seemed to come in bunches for both teams and maybe
we had a tendency to kick back when we got those leads, or maybe we
have to give credit to UCLA battling back," Hawaii head coach Mike
Wilton said. "We didn’t seem to make the plays we needed to at the
end."

In the rally-scoring fifth game, the Bruins jumped out to a
quick two-point lead and never looked back. When Turner tapped a
kill over the Hawaii block to close out the match, the Bruins were
champions once again.

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

Middle blocker Tom Stillwell’s 22 kills and 11 blocks against
Hawaii helped lead UCLA to its third NCAA title in four years.